Z as in Zebra exists to document the creative adventures within my uniquely beautiful life.

Oct 1 #2: Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes

In September, I started a cupcake adventure. If you haven't read about it yet, you can do so here.***

I absolutely love to host parties. One of my favorite parts of entertaining is the food (surprised?) and how it is displayed.

A couple weeks ago, I was rifling through my scrapbook paper stash when I was struck with an idea...why not wrap cardboard circles with patterned paper and use them as platters?! Not being the kind of person who sits on an idea for too long without taking action, I grabbed a cake circle, a pair of scissors, and a roll of tape. I cut tabs and taped them down, working my way around the entire circle.

Voilà! A unique platter!

The circle I made fit perfectly on the glass pedestal cake stand I received as a wedding shower gift from two of my best friends.

Complete with lid:

Once you have a really cute place to store your cupcakes, you have to make your cupcakes! I chose Recipe #2 (Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes) from the book I'm working through (Cupcakes Galore). Here they are, fresh out of the oven:

Once they cooled completely, I cored each cupcake and added a dollop of chocolate fudge pudding.

Here's the whole batch, cored and filled. In every dozen, there tends to be at least one REALLY crummy-looking cupcake...one that's usually destined for the early taste-test. Can you tell which one it is in this batch?

Yup, you guessed it. Top row, third from the left. The runt of the batch, and his cupcake top crumbled in the coring process. But...it can be fixed!! Here's a quick and easy way to give even the ugliest cupcakes a quick face-lift: whipped cream and cocoa powder!

First, to minimize mess, place a cookie sheet (preferably one with a lip) underneath your cooling rack. The cookie sheet will catch any cocoa powder that falls over the edges of the cupcakes.

Next, give each cupcake a squirt of whipped cream. Next time, I'm going to try a dollop of Cool Whip, rather than the aerosol stuff. :)

Pour a bit of cocoa powder into a sifter or strainer (shown three photos up), and tap it lightly over each cupcake to give them a nice dusting of cocoa.

YUM.

Next, take some tantalizing photos of your cupcake creation.

Then reunite him with his friends and display the group on the fancy cupcake platter you made earlier:

Warning: These cupcakes taste as rich as they look. You'll be hard pressed to find a friend who can indulge in more than one. Then again, maybe that's a good thing. ;)